Novel single-valued neutrosophic decision-making approaches based on prospect theory and their applications in physician selection

Abstract

The selection of a proper physician in a network environment is an important event for most patients, and single-valued neutrosophic sets (SVNSs) can depict the uncertainty and fuzziness of online evaluation information for physicians. In addition, the psychological behavior of patients is a significant factor that influences physician selection. This paper proposes two multi-attribute decision-making methods based on prospect theory (PT) with single-valued neutrosophic information and utilizes them to solve physician selection problems. Firstly, a new distance measure for SVNSs is developed to overcome the drawbacks of existing distance measures. Secondly, we develop extended TODIM and extended ELECTRE III approaches based on PT and new distance. We utilize the two proposed approaches to handle a physician selection case that uses data from Vitals.com. Parameter sensitivity and comparative analyses of the proposed methods are presented. Findings indicate that the two proposed methods can yield reasonable and credible solutions. With complementary advantages, the two methods are flexible for patients with various behavior preferences to select and use.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the editors and the anonymous reviewers for their useful comments and valuable suggestions that helped us improve this paper. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 71371196 and 71210003).

Compliance with ethical standards

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest regarding the publication of this paper.

Human and animals rights

This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.